


Welcome back Gift

by SansThePacifist



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Acnologia is a bad guy in this, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst, Coma, Confession, Cuddling, F/M, Fairy Tail is just a group of friends, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Implied abuse, Insecurities, Kisses, Nalu - Freeform, Other, References to Depression, Rehab, Rehabilitation, Requited Love, Romance, Shooting, Trigger Warnings, Tw; Shooting, angst & fluff, confessing, good ending, self-hate, tw; abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-24 08:12:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13209609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SansThePacifist/pseuds/SansThePacifist
Summary: When she woke up, she was in a hospital. Not that she could tell at first, though. It was too bright and her vision too blurry. To her, it might have been heaven, except, there was a loud beeping and she could feel weight on her arms. Wires? She would later find out her guess was correct, but for now, she was tired still. Someone was asking her questions but she could only make small, raspy sounds. How long had she been out?It took a while, but once she was able to regain consciousness, someone was there. At first, her eyelids were too heavy, she couldn’t find the energy to move them, but after a bit, they seemed to get lighter. When she was finally able to get them to flutter open, she realized she had been sedated. Did she freak out for some reason? Did she try to get out? She couldn’t remember. Suddenly, she had someone pressing against her abdomen and thanking the gods. The voice was familiar, the contact was familiar. Before she knew it, she had a name tumbling out of her lips.





	Welcome back Gift

The first thing that she noticed was that she was tired. Her vision then got blurred as she watched the man in the cloak shoot her friends. She new he said something about them being bugs, his name was acno-something, and he being the king of.. Something. 

The second thing she noticed was that she was falling. Soon enough she felt hands grabbing her and one of her friends calling for her. Her memory was getting fuzzy, maybe it wasn’t just her memory but her conscious as a whole- wait. There was a fire going through her, pain was it? Yes. She was in pain. Did she get shot too?

The third thing she noticed was that it was Natsu. Natsu was the one calling for her. Natsu was the one trying to keep her focused and awake. Natsu was the one she had foolishly fallen in love with. Natsu was the oblivious fool who never knew when to give up. Natsu was the one who told her something was off about the Acno-man.

The last thing she noticed was that Natsu was brushing the hair off of her forehead before pressing his own against it. He was.. Brushing his own forehead against hers? Was that supposed to be a form of affection? Like how a cat nuzzles their owner to mark them? She would have blushed at the thought of her best friend doing that to her, but now, she just wanted to sleep. With the short, one-sided exchange, although it was blurry, she watched as Natsu put her down with a smile before turning to glare at Acno.. Wait. Was he seriously going to try to take him down? She would have screamed at him to stop if she could have, but strangely, she just didn’t have the energy and it was too hard to breathe.  


 

When she woke up, she was in a hospital. Not that she could tell at first, though. It was too bright and her vision too blurry. To her, it might have been heaven, except, there was a loud beeping and she could feel weight on her arms. Wires? She would later find out her guess was correct, but for now, she was tired still. Someone was asking her questions but she could only make small, raspy sounds. How long had she been out?

It took a while, but once she was able to regain consciousness, someone was there. At first, her eyelids were too heavy, she couldn’t find the energy to move them, but after a bit, they seemed to get lighter. When she was finally able to get them to flutter open, she realized she had been sedated. Did she freak out for some reason? Did she try to get out? She couldn’t remember. Suddenly, she had someone pressing against her abdomen and thanking the gods. The voice was familiar, the contact was familiar. Before she knew it, she had a name tumbling out of her lips. “N-...nat...su..” She heard an excited shout and felt warm arms wrapping around her. She couldn’t help but smile softly and sigh in content. 

Later she would find out she had been in a coma for a year in a half. When she fell back after getting shot, she hit her head on something. The coma ended up sending her friends in a panic and they were almost ready to pull the plug- at least her dad was. According to Natsu, it was going to happen next week. She gave a smile and hushed him, using up most of her strength in the process, but ended up surprised to realize that the tears she felt weren’t hers. Of course, if she were fully awake, she would have realized sooner that tears don’t end up coming from the base of her neck, but it took a while for her to make the connection because of her lack of focus.

“They- they thought you were going to die luce- they were gonna cut you off and kill you! I-I.. I couldn’t let it happen!” He was rambling, almost as if trying to give excuses, but what could he have done bad? Did he get upset at someone? Did they get upset with him? He knew she was his best friend (or at least she hoped, seeing as he was hers) but she had almost never seen him cry before. At least, a time that she could remember. Has he ever cried in front of her? She couldn’t remember but had a feeling that, no, he hasn’t. She knows she had cried countless times to him about her father, her friends, things that she couldn’t leave behind, yet, this.. This has never happened before between them. 

Should she be happy? All she could feel is her friend’s relief and sadness. She should be happy she is awake. She should, but she didn’t. Instead, she just felt empty. Why did she feel empty though? Oh. She was sad. She was  _ crying _ . Talking spent so much energy as did moving, although it seemed every attempt to move a finger took everything she had, but she attempted. She attempted to bring her hand up, instead, it barely twitched. In so, she resorted to giving a half-baked smile and attempting to console him through words, “I-do-...wak..” She almost frowned but attempted again, “..don’ cry..” 

He took in a shaky breath before giving her one of his wide smiles. There were tears, but, oddly, it made her heart flutter. She was too tired though. All her energy had been used attempting to talk to her crush. Now that she thinks about it, how long has she had this crush of hers? A year? Two? Natsu was always so oblivious, she basically gave up any attempt to get him to understand, in the end, she now believes that it is one-sided and would always be. There was never any hope for her. He had Lisanna anyways and it was oh-so-obvious that she was in love with him as well. Seems his density made some love him more, perhaps it was just his ability to be optimistic. Something about him had always managed to set her heart aflame and her mind fuzzy. 

Long ago, she got a small burst of infatuation at first sight- it was nothing special, it happens. Then she ended up getting an actual crush on the fool while being in the group of friends. (Fairy Tail- that’s what they would call themselves. But it doesn’t even make sense, to be truthful. Do fairies even have tails? No one really knows, probably why they called it that.) Soon enough, she found herself falling head-over-heels for that same dumb boy. That dumb boy she met over some guy trying to flirt with her, the one who had a terrifying capability to eat or drink spicy things, the oblivious fool that dodged past every attempt to get a date without knowledge of doing so. He was who she fell in love with. At first, she denied it to herself, (Why would it be him? He is a fool and he doesn’t love her the way she loves him. So, why him?) then he saved her from a gang and she just couldn’t anymore. What was the point of denying if her heart and body screamed that she did? 

Well, her mind has been rambling on about her love long enough, she was almost sounding like a few people she knows. Well, knew. She isn’t sure if they are fine. Then again, she had only recently woken up- she blinked, looking up again only to see darkness. How late is it? How long has she been zoned out? How much did she miss? Well, at least she felt better. Less tired, in the least. Where was Natsu? Her mind blanked before she looked to the side, finding a warmth that goes by that name asleep right beside her in the hospital bed. Her cheeks became dusted in a light pink as she realized that he was curled up to her. This happened from time to time in her own room, though she isn’t always sure how he gets there most of the time, it’s always a joy to see him there, even if they aren’t anything official or it isn’t the way she wants it to be.

There she goes again, thinking about Natsu. This time, when she attempted, it did take a lot of energy, yes, but she was able to raise her hand to gently pat (Would it be considered petting?) his head. A small smile rose upon the blonde as she slowly began to get more and more tired, watching contently as the pink haired male nuzzled into her. God-damn he was adorable. Her cheeks heated up as she realized just what she was doing, her patting having faltered all the while. Soon enough he blinked and looked up to her curiously, almost as if asking why she stopped. 

 

She had started rehabilitation, and, she has to say, coming out from a hospital was harder than she thought it would have been. She was surprisingly weak for being in a coma for only a year and a half. Turn out that doing absolutely nothing but breathing depleted muscle quicker than she had thought, even with rather high grades. But, three months had passed and she was not giving up on getting better, of course, it wasn’t like her arms or feet were broken so it was somewhat easier to start walking, though it took two and a half months. With walking out of the problem, though she would tumble sometimes, she had also been able to gain enough muscle to move her arms decently close to how she used to, albeit weakly.

Time had passed slowly without Natsu around to visit, she wasn’t as happy without him either. Oddly, she felt lonely even if a crowd of other people were around, her chest felt cold for some reason, always so cold. For the umpteenth time, she found herself thinking about him and a fuzzy, warm feeling spread throughout her. Cheeks warm and sputtering, she found herself replying to a worried nurse of whom thought she might be getting ill.

After a bit more, her attention drifted. Her group of friends, they hadn’t visited her recently and, to be frank, it scared her to think of what might have happened to them. Especially since no one has told her anything. What happened to Cana? What about Laxus? Mirajane? Erza? She found herself on the floor, clasping her head at the memories of that horrible, horrible, smirk on that man’s face. The way she fell, the way she felt herself falling away- Natsu.. NATSU!

 

After she blinked out of it, more time had passed. Nurses had surrounded her and security had held her down. Oddly, she felt something dripping down her face. It was too slow for tears- blood? It hurt. Her head hurt so much and her fingers felt cracked. Sticky and cracked. She glanced down only to see blood coating the surface, both died and liquid. Her thoughts were fuzzy and she only really awoke when she found herself in Natsu’s arms three days later.

 

How long had it been since she had seen him smile like that? It hurt. A nice sort of pain, but it hurt. Then she remembered all sorts of things, things people would put her in a mental ward for. She remembered being some sort of heiress. She remembered magic and the key she kept as a memento from her mother that lasted generations, it held a man, a flirt of a man, but a man nonetheless. She remembered dragons and skies that were so clear that she could see the mountains miles away almost perfectly. She remembered training for days, for years, only to be beaten by a girl with a wicked smirk. She remembered that same girl fighting for her later on.

She remembered lives that have past, both those of her own and those of her friends. She remembered fighting enemies and fighting for a guild. She remembered the first and fighting for the third. She remembered a mage clad in black and white that seemed to basically kill everything around him. She remembered a dragon so out of their league. She remembered an island and holding others hand. She remembered waking up to a group of people she barely recognized. She remembered Erza and her love for strawberry cake. She remembered juvia and her infatuation with Gray. She remembered a life well lived. She remembered a man with white hair and a girl with a beautiful dark pink hair color and her fantasies of ‘love’. She remembered so much that it hurt.

Least of all, she remembered Natsu. He had a beautiful white scarf and could eat flames. He had an appetite that could make her lose all her money if she wanted to fill him. His magic could control fire- he could sprout it from his mouth and he was searching for someone. A salamander? No, a dragon. The dragon was also dead, she remembered that. She remembered him holding her hand and leading her to a guild full of so many wonderful people. She remembered fighting for him, fighting with him by her side, she remembered falling in love with him and crying to him when life went in shambles. She remembered him being as dense as ever, never getting the hints, she remembered finding herself naked near him and the man never really caring. She remembered crying to him, crying for him to stop. He needed to stop, he was going to hurt someone, something. She remembered their first mission. She remembered so many things Natsu would get himself into, even if it seemed impossible to do so. He was an idiot, a smart idiot. She remembered loving him so much that she gave her very dear friend away just to keep him and her guild safe and alive.

 

It was hard to not react to the name Heartfillia. She had Lucy in both lives but Heartfillia was only half of her last name. Being a child from a divorced family didn’t settle her own confusing when it came to the idea of the last name of a female going through the generations. Did she marry Natsu? Someone else. All she remembered was that it was a lonely time in her life. He went away. It wasn’t worth it anymore.

 

Natsu had a blue cat. It was supposed to speak and have wings, it didn’t. He named it Happy because he made him happy, though the cat had lasted longer than anyone thought a cat could live. Something about that name always struck her as odd, now she guessed she knew why.

She had gotten out of the hospital a few weeks ago, her schedule was a mess and she had so much work to catch up on, but she was happy to see the blue cat. “Hello Happy.” She almost expected him to speak back, but he didn’t. “I had the weirdest dream, it was full of magic and dragons. You could even speak and fly, something ex… Exceed! Yeah. You were an exceed with attitude and an old sense of humor.” The cat quirked his head and she laughed, “I’m not sure if you can understand me but this you certainly have your own personality that I wouldn't change for the world. I’m sure Natsu is the same way- speaking of that boy, in this dream of mine he had fire magic. He was raised by a dragon too! He was as much as a dense idiot now and he was in the dream.” She smiled the the cat, petting him and wondering for the umpteenth time how his fur became blue, “I wouldn’t have him any other way.”

 

She remembered hearing about a girl a while back. She had a family with hair so blond that it looked white. Her name was Lisanna. She was supposed to marry Natsu under Igneel and her mother’s own arrangements, however it didn’t work out, from what she heard, the girl died soon after Happy was found and adopted. Two years? Four years? It was a little while ago, but she remembered being told that he hadn’t let anyone in except for Lucy in that long time and she couldn’t help but wonder if she was a replacement. When she asked that to happy with a sad gleam in her eyes, the cat backed off, almost as if guilty and she ended up crying. Natsu was her best friend, if she ever found out she was just a replacement, especially if it was said to her face, she would probably end up dead. 

She herself remembered running away from the abuse of her father and crying the nights away in darkness, alone as always. She had always run away from things she didn’t like and it wasn’t fair. She filed it in with the police after one terribly bad day where he actually hit her. He hit her hard and wouldn’t stop until she woke up in the morning and was light headed, everything hurt and she felt like she was going to die. So she ran. She had to run. If she didn’t run, she would have died, wouldn’t she? If she didn’t run, she wouldn’t have found Natsu, if she didn’t run, she would have never been where she was, in Natsu’s house, explaining a dream to a blue cat. The dream wasn’t really a dream, it happened in a flash and it felt so vivid.

She knew they would find out about her past eventually, about why she was either so quiet or too loud, she knew as soon as she saw her now-friends that one slip could tell them everything. One slip up could tell the about that dream of hers as well. She talked and talked to Happy, finding herself at a standstill as soon as word about her father passed her lips. A hurt look flicked across her face before she quickly got up and whispered something about a project. She didn’t want to talk about it, even to a cat. So she ran. She ran home and cried into her cheap bed, she used her body pillow and wrapped her own limbs around it, keeping it close enough to give warmth and soak her tears into. She cried until she felt there were no tears left to use and stayed there, wrapped around a pillow, with puffy eyes and tear tracks.  

 

She was supposed to hang out with her friends later that day, but as she felt the pain in her chest, she wondered if she was supposed to feel anything as a human. Where humans even supposed to be this way? She shook her head and put a wet towel to her eyes, waiting for it to soak in the salt from the tears of hers. When she took it off after a minute or two, her eyes were noticeably less pink and irritated. One good thing she learned a little while ago. She sighed and tied up her hair, watching as her golden locks fell nicely over her shoulders. Pigtails. Maybe she should cut her hair sometime. Her hair was longer than she remembered it ever being before the shooting. Her face looked smoother after the rehab, healthy. But she still didn’t like it.

Lipstick. She put on some lipstick as well, noting how it looks so different after the two years she was in the hospitals. She was paler, thinner as well. Her hair didn’t look as healthy and lacked that beautiful shine she worked hard to have all that time ago. She was ugly. She flinched and quickly looked away from the mirror, put a gel into her hair quickly. It was supposed to help with making her hair healthier, but how would she even get closer to looking better. How would her skin get that buttery look once more? Welcome back, she thought bitterly.

 

Her friends- there were more people in the group. She recognized them all from that strange dream of hers and scanned them. Erza. Juvia. Gray. Natsu quickly flung an arm over her shoulder and she immediately relaxed, “Luce! Happy Birthday!” She blinked. Birthday?

“What?” He smiled and her cheeks heated up.

“You were in a coma through two of them and it’s the third one, so Happy Birthday!” Before she knew it, she was wrapped around him, keeping Natsu in a tight hug. He laughed and squeaked as she realized what she had done, flushing and covering her face.

“You didn’t have to do this much for me, you idiot!” He only grinned and pulled her into another hug.

“I missed you a lot, Luce.” She leaned into the hug, a flustered mess. 

She had noted the girls with bright white hair subconsciously as they gave her congratulations and gifts. It almost felt like a marriage. 

  
  
  


She woke up in the middle of the night to warmth. The first thing she saw was Happy and wondered what he was doing in her room. The second thing she noticed was Natsu wrapped around and tangled with her. Her cheeks turned a brilliant red and she curled into him. She was warm. Everything about her was warm. Her cheeks got warmer and warmer with each warm breath across her neck. Did he know how inappropriate it was to do this? Did he know how he made her feel. Happy walked closer to her face and she grabbed him, curling around the blue cat happily. She was terribly warm.

She woke up again to Natsu grumbling in his sleep, embracing her unconsciously, and a Happy on her stomach. She looked over to her friend with soft eyes and jumped slightly when his eyes opened somewhat. Against her conscious she spoke softly, “Hi.” He hummed and pulled her closer, mumbling something about it being too early. She flushed even more than possible when he mumbled more about loving her. “Do you really?”

“Hmn?”

“Do you really love me, Natsu?” She felt him tense and her heart dropped. That was never a good sign. She looked to happy who was laying on his back, paws up, and tail lying lazily below him. “Please tell me..” There was a short silence. 

“Of course I do, Luce.” His voice was low and it almost sounded like a growl.

“Love, love?” There was a longer silence and she felt like crying. Who was she to hope that he would love her like that? It was too much to ask for, of course.

“Luce..” He said it in a way that made her look up, even as her eyes were starting to brim with tears. His expression was unreadable but soft. How was that possible? It was the softest he had ever looked except from when he was sleeping. Her heart sped up and she knew, she just  _ knew  _ her heart was about to be broken. A hand was brought up to wipe the tears that had started to fall and suddenly lips were on hers. As soon as it happened, the warmth was gone and she blinked. “Does that answer your question?” The gears turned in her head as she watched Natsu stick his bright pink face in his cat’s fur. What..? She gasped, her own face heating up as she realized that  _ Natsu  _ had just  _ kissed her _ .

The surprising thing was that he was an  _ amazing  _ kisser. What the fuck? She sat up in the bed and watched as Natsu stiffened. Oh god. He had kissed her and now he was  _ flustered _ . She never thought she would ever see him like this, face pink and trying to hide from her almost like he did something wrong. She picked up Happy and moved the reluctant cat away. Natsu looked up almost as if expecting her to be angry. Instead he met a soft smile and flushed cheeks. 

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I love you too, moron.”


End file.
